The present invention is related to smart cards, and in particular, a smart card having a display for displaying currently loaded applications.
As is well known, a smart card is a portable device, usually similar in size to a credit card, that contains a processing logic and memory for storing information. The smart card generally contains all the intelligence necessary to complete a transaction locally at the transaction location. Depending on the complexity of the smart cards, they offer virtually unlimited application possibilities. The applications may include such transactions as an electronic purse, prepaid telephone, highway toll collection, frequent flier mileage tracking, personal finance, and personal authentication. The smart card may also be used to store personal information, health care data or the like.
As the number of available applications grows, popularity of a smart card containing multiple applications is expected to increase substantially. Multi-application smart cards are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,232 issued to Taylor on Jun. 25, 1996 describes a multi-application smart card that uses multiple memory banks to store data related to the multiple applications.
However, the applicant of the present invention recognized that one of the problems in a wide-spread adoption of a multi-application smart card by the industry is that there is no easy way for a user to find out what applications reside in the card. The problem is compounded if the user holds two or more multi-application cards. One solution is to permanently print the symbols or logos of the applications on the card at the time of issuance. As can be appreciated, however, this solution is inadequate. Even though different applications may be loaded and removed from the card from time to time, the permanent printing of the logos cannot be changed to accurately reflect the currently loaded applications. Another solution is to use an external reader device that slips over the card to view the card""s content. Such a device, however, is too bulky to carry around with the card.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there is a need to provide a convenient system and method for identifying which applications are currently available in a multi-application smart card.
According to the principles of the present invention, there is provided a smart card that is capable of identifying the currently loaded application programs. The smart card includes a memory for storing application programs and their associated symbols or logos, and a processor capable of executing the stored programs. According to the invention, the smart card includes a display that can display the stored symbols of the loaded application programs for easy identification by the user.
As can be appreciated, the present invention provides the advantage of allowing a user to see which application programs are currently available at all times as different application programs are loaded and deleted from time to time.
To provide even more convenience for the user, in one embodiment, the processor displays the programs according to how frequently they are used by the user.